Calluses on the Knees Are Our Medals of Honor

A minister once made the comment that “Christ-followers are easily identified by the calluses on their knees.” As disciples of His, we have learned the power and refreshment of prayer. We, like the apostle Paul, have learned to pray unceasingly all day. Whether we are driving in the car during rush hour, walking around the block, or sitting in a restaurant, we find ourselves making short petitions to our Heavenly Dad. However, we have also learned the necessity of private prayer away from the outside world and alone with our Dad. This is the type of prayer when we humbly in respect and awe bow down on our knees before the presence of our Lord and make supplications, petitions and plain talk with our Dad. This is quiet time to speak what is on our heart. This is communion time.
When we spend time on our knees, we invest in our relationship with our Heavenly Creator. We acknowledge His superiority and lordship in our life. We also acknowledge our dependency and faithfulness to Him. It takes time to pray this way. In our hyper active lifestyles, we find our lives busy to make the time to pray in this fashion. We justify it by saying we can pray anywhere, anyplace, at anytime. This may be true. However, just like having a diet of fast foods everyday for breakfast, lunch and dinner, our health will suffer. Likewise, if we live our spiritual life with the same mentality, we will find our spiritual life and relationship with our Dad suffering. We know. In our younger days when life had fewer responsibilities, we could probably find more time to pray on our knees mornings and evenings. As our life becomes more demanding, we find ourselves too tired to pray in such a fashion. We know God understands. But, we have also acknowledged that He deserves our best. In our younger days, our prayer life was probably more mechanical. It was us probably practicing the disciplines for discipline sake and not for the real reason we pray. We could easily pray for an hour on our knees without any outside interruptions or demands. But in our self-righteous way, we probably would pat ourselves on the back because of our superior spiritual practices. Today though, when we pray on the knees, we probably pray as long as our knees and joints are able to handle the strain and before we are interrupted by the outside world. We again probably don’t count the time anymore but have learned to enjoy the intimate fellowship with our Heavenly Dad. It’s investing time with our Lover, Provider, and Soul-Mate. It’s speaking from our heart and listening with our soul. It’s humbly asking for personal help and praising Him for His Majesty. It’s petitioning Him on behalf of others, and asking Him how we may best serve His Kingdom. It is waiting with expectation and excitement to see how He is going to answer. No matter what the answer, He knows best. We know that He stills loves us and will always be with us, even when we stray from Him. We are thankful He has called us to be His Disciple.

OUR PRAYER

Our Caring Dad! Thank you for prayer. Thank you for creating a vehicle that allows us to commune with you. Your ways of living are so simple but so effective. Thank you for always listening to us. Even when our prayers are selfish and self-centered, your love is patient and understanding. You don’t harass us, but you slowly change us to become like you.
Thank you for revealing your purpose of prayer. Help us to pray like Jesus prayed. While we pray, change our heart, mind, and soul to become like yours. While we pray, transform us into your image. While we pray, let us see the situation through your eyes. While we pray, let us see your answers. Answer our prayers, not as we always request it, but as you know what is best for all parties involved. Help us in prayer to focus on expressing your life through us in any and all circumstances. If necessary, bless us with difficult circumstances that challenge us to cry out to you for help. There is no greater joy than to see you glorified through answered prayer. Though we may want our circumstances changed for the better, you know it is more important to change our heart, mind, and soul to be greater than the surrounding environment. Thank you for hearing our prayers. Let your glory shine. Jesus we ask. Amen.